Shadows in the Dark
by Morea Shin
Summary: Former Sith Apprentice Gaediien Shin is looking for a new life, a fresh start far away from the Empire. But the galaxy always has other plans.
1. Chapter 1

Gaediien stood on the worn, ancient steps of the Sith Academy.

It had been thousands of years that the dark side lurked and slept in the tombs here on Korriban. It had been many years, a century, since the redeemed Darth Revan stepped foot here with an entourage of followers, infiltrating the Academy, and sneaking back out. Of course, things did not stay secret for long, and word of the former Sith Lords return had spun its way through the ancient landscape. Each acolyte and apprentice, master and overseer had their own version of what had happened. Gaediien wondered who was wrong.

He did not buy into the twisted and mangled, nearly fabricated, tales of ancient power and destruction. He realized of course, those buried here were once great Force wielders. They had slain many, had bought their power with much blood. Gaediien however, was not a Sith Lord but nor was he an acolyte. He was an apprentice to a high and powerful Master inside the Academy.

He stood on the steps, his dark yellow eyes glowed under the shadow of his hood. His fingers lightly brushed the hilt of one of his twin sabers at his hip. He was a _former_ apprentice, he thought to himself ruefully. Former, because now he was an exiled Sith. He had been banished from the only homes he had known, Korriban, the Sith Academy, and the Sith Empire itself.

He descended down the smooth steps. Apprentices and Acolytes snickered and laughed at the disgraced sight. The Council had allowed him to keep his lightsabers, that was an upside to the situation he supposed. The fact that they had allowed him to live, however, that was what most surprised him.

He didn't feed into the small crowd. He didn't so much as glance in their direction. He had made his choice back on Dromund Kaas many months ago, he had accepted the consequences before they had even been brought before him. This merely made it official, public. He reached the shuttle that would take him away from this world, from his life. He sat by the window, but closed the shades.

Nar Shaddaa was many things, loud, bright. It was the perpetually drunk, younger sister of Coruscant. The Smugglers Moon accepted all types. Renegades, rejects and exiles looking for their next step. The bands in the cantinas played all night, credits were gained and lost, and drinks flowed till the early hours.

It was easy to blend into the changing and shuffling crowds. To get lost on the many levels, to lose ones self along with many credits.

Gaediien however, did not blend well. His dark heavy cloak hid most of his face and body, his double sabers tucked tightly to the sides of his hip. While on the outside, he walked fast and kept his eyes straight, on the inside, his mind was running with a million conversations and half ideas. The Force was not singing to him or lying dormant, it was screaming at him from all sides.

The headache he had from yesterdays proceedings, had now morphed into a migraine that was working itself down his neck. The Force was too busy explaining each ship entering and exiting the atmosphere, each conversation, each drunken mumble, each thought, each death in the gang regions, and each woman or man making passes at him, to even begin to settle the pain in his head. He hit the bar, and ordered something he had never heard of, something the patron before him had asked for. When the droid placed the drink on the table, Gaediien threw back the entire drink. And as his drink hit the table, Gaediien hit the floor.

The last bolt of pain from his head that he felt, he thought amused, was at last not internal.

Someone was talking to him. That much he understood. It was a calm voice, high pitched. He felt a light pressure on his forehead followed by something cool leaking down the sides of his temples and soaking his hair. Something equally cool touched his lips. His head was raised and cold liquid flowed through his teeth, he instinctively swallowed whatever it was being offered. It was at that moment that the time, his memories and sluggishly treading behind it all, the Force, came back to him. Slowly opening his eyes, he was greeted by blurs at his side. Two blue blurs became one blue blur, and finally, a blurry form began to take clearer shape.

"You're awake." The blur, he assumed, announced. "You've got a pretty nasty cut on your head." The blur reached for something next to him, but as much as he tried, he couldn't see what it was. He attempted to blink a few times and his vision cleared but it still remained hazy. The Force was floating just outside his grasp, mocking him it seemed. As he blinked the blurriness away he realized it was a young blue Twi'lek hovering over him. She lifted the cool pressure from his head, and replaced it with a kolto pack. He felt the slight sting, but it soon dissipated.

"There." she beamed, "That should speed things along."

It was at this moment that the past week caught up to him. He jumped up from the mattress and landed on the ground, instinctively he reached for his sabers only to find there was nothing strapped to his hip. His dark cloak, that he knew he had at the bar, was also missing. The room began to spin as the blood rushed from his head, and he hit the floor for a second time in two days. He could still see the young Twi'lek, the edges of his vision had faded black. It was then that he noticed he was sweating, his body felt like he was being cooked alive.

"Woa, woa, woa." The spinning blur moved to kneel in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Calm down, take it easy. I'm not gonna hurt you."

If he was in his right mind, he supposed he would have laughed at that comment.

He focused and calmed his mind, he let the Force flow back in. While it was only a little at a time, it soothed his headache and sorted out his jumbled memories.

"My," he tried. His throat was scratchy, his voice low. How long has it been? "My, sabers." He finally got out.

"They're on the table. You don't need them, and no, I won't get them for you."

He scowled at the young girl. How dare she speak that way to a Sith, to someone with his authority. He could... But it occurred to him, he had no authority anymore.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed." She said after a moment. She helped the former Sith to stand and led him to the mattress. His mind screamed warnings at him. He needed to leave, to get out of this vulnerable position. But his aching body eased into the bed. Days of tense concentration, of worry, close calls and no sleep had sapped him of every last drop of energy he had.

Above him the Twi'lek appeared again with more cooling pads. She arranged them around his neck, his arms and his legs. He watched her and followed her movements closely.

"My names Nar'na." She told him as she adjusted the cooling pads around him.

He didn't have much control over his facial muscles, but he assumed the expression on his face wasn't a friendly one. He could sense her apprehension through the Force. Even if the blasted thing had abandoned him.

"Gaediien." He offered after an awkward moment.

"Nice to meet you." She smiled. "Word of advise. Stay away from any strange glowy drinks Dice hands you. You've been out for hours."

 _Dice?_ He wanted to ask. Instead Gaediien nodded, regretted it instantly, and settled with trying to relax himself. Perhaps the Force would come back to him enough, so he could clear this headache and actually think.

"Here," Nar'na said, he felt the slight sting of the hypo in his neck. "That should do it. When you wake up you should feel a lot better." He heard the words, but it was as if they were coming from across the galaxy. They echoed and drifted from his mind, his breathing slowed, and everything went black.

The second time Gaediien woke up under Nar'nas care, he had to admit he did feel better. The pounding in his head had vanished, and he could now move without dropping to the floor. He sat up as Nar'na placed a tray of simple food on his lap. She hopped up on the bed and watched him eat.

Gaediien knew he was being studied, he lifted his eyes from a odd piece of food to meet hers.

"Looking for something?"

He knew you didn't ask people their business on Nar Shaddaa. Most wouldn't tell you anyway, and the others just lied. Too many backgrounds mixed together in the spaceports and the cantinas to go around sticking your nose where it most certainly didn't belong. Jedi, smugglers, bounty hunters, ex-warriors and wanted fugitives mingled and dined together under the neon lights. The Hutts didn't care, as long as visitors spent their credits and stayed out of Hutt business.

"Where you from?" She braved after a long moment.

He continued picking at a piece of food on his tray as he thought over the question. Nobody had actually asked him that before. He didn't really know where he was from, he just knew it was Korriban or Dromund Kaas. Even if he wanted to answer her question truthfully, he couldn't.

"I don't mean to pry," she started, reading his silence wrong. He looked back up at the young girl, "It's just we don't get many Jedi. And when we do, well it's never like this. I never got to see one up close before."

Gaediien paused, she thought he was a Jedi. He could use that.

He swallowed and cleared his throat. "Coruscant." He answered. He knew that was a mainly Republic planet. He hadn't been there personally but everyone knew Coruscant, and Jedi probably came from there. Or was it Tython?

She beamed for a moment. "Coruscant? I've always heard stories of how beautiful it is there."

"It's a lot like Nar Shaddaa, just cleaner I guess." He had no idea, so he took another bite and hoped she would stop asking questions.

He noticed she kept watching him, his expressions, his eyes. He hadn't looked at his reflection lately, but he was sure anyone who knew a Jedi wouldn't have mistaken him for one. Years of studying and practicing with the Dark Side had left its marks on his skin. His eyes an unnatural shade of deep yellow.

"Did you come here by yourself." Another question from Nar'na. He nodded.

He could tell she was thinking of something else to ask, so he decided it was his turn.

"What about you? Family?" He asked her. He saw the answer before she shook her head. She visibly wilted, obviously it wasn't a good subject, _and probably a long one._

"What about you?"

"Jedi don't have family." At least he didn't think so. The Sith had families, generations and bloodlines. But they didn't last long.

"Oh. Why did you come to Nar Shaddaa?"

Before Gaediien could answer, or think up one, a loud voice came from the other side of the door. Accompanied by someones fist banging against the metal divider.

"Nar'na, I know you're in there! If you don't get out here I'm breaking this wall and then your face!"

Gaediien knew the sudden fear he felt was not from himself, but from the young girl in front of him. It was quickly mixing with panic.

The young former Sith grabbed her arm, "Where are my sabers?" he whispered.

She motioned to a counter on the other side of the room. He lept off the bed and found the twin blades, calling on the Force to keep him upright. He called his cloak from the chair and shrugged into it, attaching the hilts to his side. He drew the hood and closed his eyes, looking for a stronger connection to the Force.

He opened them just as the door flew off its tracks and into the room. He activated the twin blades as the Force showed him the other mans vibroblade and his friends blaster.

"Nar'na! You're dead!" The man just had enough time to yell.

In a swift move Gaediien flipped through the air and landed in front of the man, disarming him with a quick slice before he even touched the ground. The blaster his friend was attempting to aim was thrown from his hand, as Gaediien Force pushed him backwards back into the hall.

Gaediien stood with his twin sabers humming, the man in front of him holding his sliced wrist. He brought the blades up and held them near the mans neck.

"You will leave." Was all he told him. The man nodded quickly and ran out of the room and down the hall, his friend running behind him.

As the adrenaline in his blood dissipated and his heartbeat slowed, he deactivated his blades and turned around. The Twi'lek was hiding behind the mattress, a bit of blue peaking up from behind it.

He returned his hilts to his side and walked around the bed, crouching low to be eye level with the frightened girl. She was staring at him, and he could see her lekku trembling. He drew his hood back and held out a hand to her.

"They won't bother you again."

She nodded.

"Who were they?" He asked.

She stared at him a moment before speaking.

"Local gang." Was all she said.

"What did they want with you?"

She unfolded herself a bit.

"They make trouble for everyone, but he keeps coming back here. He comes in and takes everything, food, credits. Whatever he wants. And if I refuse, he hits me."

Gaediien was trained in the ways of the Sith. He used what the Jedi called 'the dark side' of the Force and had done many acts the Republic liked to label as 'evil'. He was used to watching gruesome killings, selfishness and taking what didn't belong. But something in Nar'nas words struck him as repulsive. He suddenly was angry at himself for letting the man go with just a missing hand.

He must have let the emotion show, for he saw Nar'na back up, her fear was still strong and he realized rather belatedly, it was towards him.

"Don't worry," he attempted to soothe. Something he had never done in his life. "I won't hurt you."

She watched him for a moment longer. Gaediien wasn't sure if she believed him, but the fear he sensed dissipated just a bit.

"Who's the local gang?" He asked.

"The Red Cuffs. Here in the under city they rule. They fight The Signs, as they're called."

"The Signs?"

"Yeah, local guy who thinks hes a prophet or something. Hes got a whole following, anyway the Red Cuffs have an ongoing feud with them. Signs think they are all innocent and never start trouble they say, but who's the first ones with the vibroblades and setting off explosives and blaming it on the Cuffs? Neither side is innocent."

Gaediien thought about it, then turned to her. "What about you? What do you do?"

"I run this medcenter. We don't have much, but we're unbiased and not connected to either gang."

"We?"

"Well, now it's just me."

"No parents?"

She paused, folding in on herself again. It must really be a bad subject. But she was so young. He changed tactics.

"Right, so that's it? You just live down here and take care of the sick and injured. What side do you belong to? Are you Imperial, Republic? What about the war going on?"

She shook her head, not understanding. "War? There is a war outside that door, or where the door used to be. No one is Imperial or Republic here, those words mean nothing. We're just trying to stay alive."


	2. Chapter 2

For 20 some years the war had been the one steady thought burned into Gaediiens mind. It was the Republic verses the Empire. The Sith verses the Jedi. The Dark side verses the supposed Light.

It was burned into every acolyte on Korriban, every Imperial in the Military, and every Dark Lord on the Council. To win the war was the main goal, to have complete control of the galaxy. To crush the Republic. This was the ultimate goal.

But down in the under city of Nar Shaddaa, the war that was burned so deeply in Gaediien's mind did not exist.

No, the war did not exist at all. There were no Sith, no Jedi. There was only the sound of suffering on a more local scale. Mothers and children and other innocents just trying to get by in their day were swept up in a much different war.

For once in Gaediiens life he felt right. All the evil he had done as a member of the Empire, all the pain he brought with him where he went. For all the studying he had completed to earn the title of apprentice, to earn the respect of the Masters. To catch the eye of a Dark Council member. He had never felt good. Never felt right.

As the days went on Gaediien realized Nar'na was correct. There was a war going on. It was not a war against the mighty Republic or the powerful Imperials, but it was everyday people trying to survive against the odds. Against the gangs. Against life itself.

The local gangs maimed and dismembered and stole and sometimes, though rarely, killed the locals. It was their idea of fun and too them it was a sort of business. Gaediien desperately wished a chance at them. They might be able to scare and hurt young children but they would go running in fear against a Sith Apprentice.

Former Sith Apprentice, but that's even if he allowed them to run. And they didn't know his standing with the Empire.

Night had fallen, another day had ended and Gaediien began his nightly ritual of meditation before sleep. It the only way he could sleep on the busy planet. The Force jumped like fireworks, shooting in all directions, touching everything and telling him all about it. He tried to release the last few muscles in his back, to fully submit to the Force and fall into oblivion, but he felt someone approach the door in the hall.

He waved the door aside with his hand, without opening his eyes. He already knew who it was. Nar'na stood in the dim light of the hall. Unsure. Something was wrong.

"Come in."

She stepped into the dim room, a bit apprehensive. He felt her standing near him, above him.

"Gaediien? What are you doing on the floor?" She asked curiously after a long moment.

"Meditating."

Silence.

"It's a way to relax, using the Force."

"Oh." another moment, "Whats the Force?" She asked. He had tried to hide it these past weeks, to conceal what he was. If she knew, oh Force if she knew, he was sure she would bolt. The Sith were considered heartless monsters.

 _That's because they are._

 _Shut up._

He opened his eyes and watched her. She had sat in front of him now, studying him. He turned it over in his mind. She was so afraid of him when he first came here, when he took out those men. What if she became afraid again and left him or asked him to leave?

 _You are Sith, are you so weak you cannot handle being on your own?_

The voice in the back of his mind repeated the words thrown at him mere weeks ago.

 _"Pathetic. This is no Sith."_

He swallowed and made his decision.

"The Force," he paused, what was it? How do you describe it to someone who does not have it? He pressed on, repeating what the Overseers had told him.

"The Masters at the... Academy explained that it's in all things. It binds all things together. It's in you and it's in me." He gestured to Nar'na then himself. Seeing that she was paying attention he continued.

"Some are born more sensitive to it then others. They can move things around them, or use it to enhance their own abilities. Like running or jumping. It gives you another sense, telling you before it happens. My Master..." Gaediien swallowed, _breathe, it's alright,_ "he was very powerful. He was a highly a esteemed Force adept. His skill, it was unrivaled."

He schooled his features emotionless, betraying not a hint of the turmoil saw see the young girl think this over, compare it probably to what she's witnessed so far.

"Do you have family back on Coruscant?" She asked.

 _Coruscant?_ The random question puzzled him for a moment. Gaediien had almost forgotten she thought him a Jedi. He could not tell her he was Sith, and besides, _you are no Sith._ It would be a lie anyway.

"I do not know." It was a lie of sorts. Gaediien did very much have relatives all over the galaxy. On both sides of the war, he knew. Perhaps some did live on Coruscant. He knew only those on Alderaan and Dromund Kaas.

He saw the young Twi'lek wilt a bit at that.

"I don't know where my family is either." She told him "It was mama and I for a long while, alone. Then she died and it was just Dess and I, running this place." She glanced around the small, dark room. "Now it's just me."

She sounded misrable. Gaediien struggled to keep the mask on his face from cracking. To keep Nar'na, a young girl he had not known for more then two standard weeks, from seeing him break into ruins. He did not know if he would come back once he started. All that Sith learning. Grueling hours of duels and studying the ancient scripts on the tombs in the harsh Korriban climate. Was it for nothing? Had his Master taught him nothing?

He willed it all into the Force. But it did not go away. The pain clung. The guilt leeched his strength.

He blinked a few times to clear his vision, to come back into the real world. Nar'na was staring at him. Concern, worry, _fear_. He sensed it before he saw it.

It occurred to him that she probably saw his mask slip, a crack in the façade. He cleared his throat and posed to her a question to change the awkward subject.

"I'm sorry, I seem to have drifted a bit. Was there something you needed? A reason you sought me out?"

She looked down at her hands. Turning them and inspecting them. She was hesitant, afraid, _nervous_ is what he finally settled for. He probed a bit, it wasn't a fear of him. That was good. No, it was a fear of his response?

"Go an ask." He encouraged.

Nar'na met his eyes, in them he saw she decided something.

"I can't sleep," it was a mere whisper, "I haven't slept in days. Things, in my head keep playing over and over. I didn't know if you were still awake, I was just lonely." There was more to it then that, he knew, but he would not press. He understood what she wanted. It was something he longed for every night. Company, someone to drive the nightmares away.

"You can stay here if you want company. Nothing too exciting, like I said, I'm just here meditating."

"That's okay. Do you mind if I watch?"

 _Yes._

"No, there's nothing much to watch though." He smiled at her and she returned it. He felt her relief. She made herself comfortable on the floor in front of him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a slim line of panic rose. He closed his eyes after a moment, willing away the thoughts starting to build. Years of Sith paranoia and watching others get stabbed in the back did not go away easily. He closed his eyes tighter and made himself fall into the Force.

It had been many hours later when he woke. A small blue form lay in front of him, sleeping soundly on the cool floor.

He felt a small twinge of pain as, _she trusts you,_ floated lightly through his mind.

He carefully picked up the sleeping form and laid her across his bed, pulling the covers up and over her. She was very young, and very reckless to trust him so easily. It's not that he would harm her, he knew he couldn't, but she did not know who he really was. She did not know where he came from _or what_ he was. And what it was he was running from. What brought him here to Nar Shaddaa in the first place

He got very little sleep that night. Tossing in his mind whether he should tell her or not.

He decided it was better not to. Let the Force decide it for him.

It was a prickling at his senses that woke Gaediien up the next day. He turned over on the floor to see the empty bed above him. Nar'na had awoken before him and left without him knowing.

Strange. He usually would awake when Master, _no, no, no. Do not start so soon, it is too early._

Finding his body protesting at having to sleep on the hard, cold ground, Gaediien stretched his back and shoulders before hearing voices arguing down the hall. He enhanced his hearing with the Force and crept quietly down the hall to see who it was making such a fuss so early in the day.

"Today, Nar'na. It's been two months. There is a reason it's called a deadline."

Gaediien could make out the form of a Rodian, not much taller then Nar'na herself standing in front of the Twi'lek. His eyes fell to the worn blaster at the Rodian's hip. Clearly custom made and well used. This was not his first job, nor was he an amateur.

"I can't make it, give me a week!" It wasn't more then a whisper. "I don't have the credits right now." Nar'na pleaded.

The Rodian drew his blaster, slowly, not to kill but to threaten. He lifted it to the young girls face, pointing it between her eyes.

He was pretty fast, but Gaediien was much faster.

"You will give it to me, and I will deliver it to my boss. Either your credits, or your head." The Rodian sneered at the girl.

Gaediien crept up behind the man, igniting one of his twin sabers in front of the man's throat. It hummed to life. A red, searing blade of light ready to do its Masters bidding.

"How about I deliver _your_ head instead?" He whispered in the Rodian's ear.

He could hear the strangers breath quicken for just a moment. But he recovered soon enough and the Force screamed at Gaediien to move. The Rodian ducked under the blade and shot behind him, spinning in place and continuing to shoot. Each blast hit the red blade, shielding the actual intended target. The Rodian took his second blaster and fired off at him. Gaediien activated his second blade, each time he caught the blaster fire with his twin sabers.

In his mind, he sensed Nar'na was hidden. He saw his chance. He opened his palm and the Rodian was lifted in the air and gripped his throat frantically. Gaediien lunged forward, twisting tightly in the air and drove the blades down.

A yell, and then nothing but silence.

His breathing was wild. It was not a massive fight or even a very challenging one. He had fought Jedi and acolytes and beasts, the Rodian did not compare. But it had still been awhile.

His last fight was, _no, no, no._

He deactivated the blades and returned them to his sides. Turning about the room he sought the young Twi'lek he had grown accustomed to these past two weeks.

"Nar'na?"

Blue peeked out from behind the medical cot in the middle of the room. It reminded him of the first time he had opened his eyes here and fought those men.

"Is he...?" She gestured to the lump slouched over on the floor near the wall.

"Yes." He replied quietly, then quickly added, "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

 _Lie._

He could hear her breathing, it was quick and shallow. He sensed it before he saw it, she was shaking. She had grown up around death and violence, surely a small blaster fight wouldn't scare her so?

 _Perhaps she is not accustomed to seeing a Sith fight._

 _I am not a Sith_. He sneered back at the voices. But perhaps they might be right, it was not the same as the street gang fights down here. He took a step closer. She held up a shaking hand.

"No, no, no."

"Nar'na, I won't hurt you. You know that."

She kept her hand up, backing up till she had bumped into the metal table behind her. He continued to walk towards her slowly, watching her eyes he saw how she looked around the room, she was looking for a way to run. But he was in her way no matter what she chose. _This is not good._

"Stop!" She yelled. Gaediien froze in place, and held up his own hands now.

"Nar'na? When have I ever given you reason to fear me? We've lived and worked together for two weeks, I have never hurt you and I promise I never will."

She shook her head. _This is really not good._

Then the question he had been dreading since he awoke here, since he landed on this planet, was asked.

"Who are you? Really? Who are you? You're not a Jedi. They do not kill."

He would have laughed if the situation had been different. _Jedi do not kill? My dear, they most certainly do._

He did not know what to tell her. The truth, that he was a Sith? Or the other truth? That he had been publicly stripped of that and exiled from the only home he had ever known? No. The Sith were not his home. _You don't hate your home. I don't hate it. You don't do that against your home. I had no choice._

 _This is not the time,_ he yelled back to the sneering voices.

He was a Force user? He was a dark Jedi? He was an exile?

"I..." Now it was his turn to shake.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"I... I am no one. I don't... I was trained in the use of the Force as a child. But I rebelled, I... I Challenged their teachings and I was exiled."

There. That wasn't so hard.

 _If it was so easy then why didn't you tell the real reason you were exiled? Who you really were? What actually happened that night?_

Nothing happened. Nothing at all. There was no night.

Nar'na tilted her head slightly, regarding him in an expression he could not read. His mind was reeling, one side laughing at him, one side yelling at him. On one side, his Masters voice, telling him to focus.

 _"There is a whole world right in front of you? Where are you?"_

 _"Gaediien, focus!"_

 _"Gaediien, side swipe! That is up! Why can you never stay here long enough to listen?"_

 _"Gaediien!"_

"Gaediien?"

It was a whisper. Not from his head or his memories, but from Nar'na. He met her eyes. A battle had been fought there, and whether she won or lost he could not tell.

"I trust you."

The storm in his mind did not settle, it merely paused. It would resume again later. The images, the voices the horror. It would be waiting for him tonight, as it always did. It was his only friend for so long now. The only thing he could count on still being there at the end of the day.

She took a step closer, and another step. He could still taste her fear, but she was pushing it aside. He could see it. She was afraid, horribly afraid he would kill her as he did the Rodian so easily, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. He could see it, she was standing in front of him shaking, her eyes betraying what she allowed her face to not.

He didn't know what she was doing. His instinct was to back away or be ready to defend himself. But he decided to take the same risk she was taking. There was an expression an acolyte he knew would use, "Pick up a new pazaak card from the deck and hope it makes twenty."

He watched her carefully. She reached slowly and took his hand in hers, turning it over and examining it as if he were a patient or a test subject. She brought her eyes back up to his. He fought hard not to fidget, not to move under the scrutiny.

He still did not know what she was doing but he let her do it. She was taking a large risk approaching him after what she had just witnessed. He supposed he could extend her the same benefit of the doubt.

She was watching his eyes, studying them. He knew what his eyes looked like, a deep, burnt yellow. They were not warm and inviting, he remembered they were not always that color.

She turned his hand over again. Oh how he hated touch, but he will not take it away from her. _Trust her._

"I trust you." She repeated, a small smile appearing.

 _Why?_ "You don't know me."

She shook her head. "No."

She moved closer and for a second he almost backed away, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

 _What is...?_ He froze. He was aware it was a hug, but why was she hugging him? You didn't go around hugging Dark Lords of the Sith. _First you are just an apprentice, and now you are no longer even that._

He laid his hands on her back carefully, in a way he truly hoped was considered hugging back. _She trusts you, that you will not run her through with your sabers, so why is she still shaking?_

"Nar'na?" He asked. It was much quieter then he had expected his voice to sound. He felt her nod.

"Why are you still shaking?" It was a mere whisper now. _And why are you hugging me?_ He wanted to ask as well.

"Gaediien," she began, her voice shaky and quiet. "you have just gotten us both killed and started a war."


	3. Chapter 3

"So run it past me again how I started a war?"

Gaediien stood leaning against the counter, Nar'na instead laid across the medical bed, one leg across the other knee.

"Honestly Gaede, do you ever listen?"

He crossed his arms and mock glared at the young girl. She smiled.

"Alright, you killed their second in command. The Prophet will rip this place to shreds once he finds out, and rip you to shreds once he finds you!"

"He'll never get the chance. Look, where can I find these Signs people?"

She turned to rest on her elbow.

"They have a base of operations further down. Why? What are you thinking?"

"They want a war, then we'll bring them a war. I'm sure they've never met a Force user before." _The worst they could do is kill me, and that wouldn't be so bad would it?_

"Are you insane? They'll rip you to shreds, Gaede. You can't just march in there and ask to see their leader, they'll never let you in. And besides, even if you do manage to kill him you'll never make it out alive."

"I'll take that bet." He smirked.

"Gaediien!"

"What? I'll walk in and politely ask to see, uh, what's his face?"

"The Prophet."

"Right. The Prophet."

"I can't believe you're actually going to try it." She sat on the low cot and watched as the former apprentice dissembled and reassembled his sabers.

"There." He spun the twin blades before returning them to his sides. "Look, you've said it. They terrorize the people, they practically run the things down here. Someone has to try."

"Just please try not to get yourself killed."

"Why would you miss me?"

"No... I just don't want to have to go back to cleaning bed pans by myself. I'm quite used to having you around, you know."

"Gee, thanks. I'll be back in bit. Try not to miss me too much."

"Will do."

The Red Cuffs had made a cozy outfit for themselves on the dark streets of Nar Shaddaa's undercity. They took what they pleased, abused those who couldn't pay up, and kidnapped for ransom and collateral. The lived and thrived on people's fears. They worked hidden from sight, a small base behind various other shady establishments, they fought endlessly with the Signs.

Gaediien made his way through the streets to the Signs' base, a former warehouse turned center of operations. Two Nautolans stood at the door, they lowered their electrostaffs across the entrance and gestured towards the former apprentice.

"Moova dee boonke." The one on the left said.

"Turn around." His friend translated.

Gaediien flashed a bright smile at the two and bowed.

"Mah bamauas. I wish to speak to the Prophet."

"Concerning?"

"I have a proposition for them. And believe me, they will be most interested in what I have to say."

"No. Go back to where you came from."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I'll use this till you're nothing more then a spazzing corpse."

The guard made a motion towards Gaediien. The former apprentice lifted an arm and the guard was levitated off the ground, clawing at an invisible vice around his neck.

"Biweoo!" _Enough!_

Gaediien dropped the man. The other guard yelled out and a small Evocii came running out of nowhere.

"Toupee bu Chawaka goo gee wa neyekonk." The guard told him, then whispered something else Gaediien couldn't make out. The Evocii bowed and ran back inside, the guard turned back towards the former apprentice.

"Go."

"Sonpa uba." _Thank you_ , and then walked between the two.

The warehouse was much larger on the inside then it had appeared. Cranes and shipment boxes hung from high ceilings and computer terminals lined the walls. The Signs had a much larger deal going on then publicized. Members of the gang crawled all over the base. Nautolan, Rodian, Abyssin and Nitko, all heavily armed, passed the former apprentice. All eyeing him suspiciously. Someone ran up next to Gaediien, it was the Evocii he'd seen outside.

"Bu Chawaka hatkocanh neu uba ateem." _The Prophet will see you now._

The Evocii led him towards a small back room. In the center was a computer terminal and a desk, a Nautolan and two Nitkos stood nearby.

"Chawaka, tah doth bu yae coo nai bai cohai bai ub." The Evocii then bowed and left. The Nautolan motioned with a nod of his head to the door, and the two Nitkos promptly left.

"Doyoee?" _Basic?_

"Yes."

"Good. I'm not fluent in Huttese. It never rolled off my tongue very well, and I'm not fond of a language from slimy slugs. Sit?" He motioned to a lone chair near the desk.

"Thanks. I'm surprised. Your whole base here seems to speak it quite well, I would assume their leader would too." The Nautolan leaned back and studied the Gaediien seriously.

"People don't usually come by here unless they have good reason. You impressed my guards, what is it you want?"

"Your guards were easy to impress then."

"Lycin tells me you choked Merip without laying a hand on the man. Just reached out, and Merip started choking. Now tell me, what's a Sith doing out here in the under belly of the smuggler's moon? The Empire doesn't touch these parts, and even if it did they don't care about local gang wars."

Gaediien had to think about that one.

"So quick to label me as Sith are you? I thought that was a foreign word here."

"The people of Nar Shaddaa know very well of the war, my friend. But it means very little here. What do you want?"

Gaediien too leaned back and eyed the man.

"I want to know what a Force user is doing running a gang on Nar Shaddaa. Especially a gang that so clearly is doing well, I mean, what's with knocking old ladies over out in the streets and threatening others when clearly you're above petty crime?"

The Nautolan regarded him suspiciously.

"Because while the Signs are a local gang run by a mysterious man they call the Prophet, the Shadow Blades are a well established, organized crime syndicate."

"Shadow Blades? What, did you get that from a random gang name generator off the holonet?"

The Prophet smiled slowly and leaned forward.

"I like you." A long pause then, "My last partner, Ginto, mysteriously went missing this morning. You wouldn't know anything about that now would you?"

"Nah."

"I didn't think so. What is it you actually came here for?"

"I want you to ease off the people here. I don't care what you're doing or what you're transporting. Just leave the people here alone. If I see one more Sign knocking over a kid on the street or I see another person with black and blue over their eyes because they didn't pay their dues, Force choking your guards will be the least of your worries."

"The gang gets a little carried away sometimes, I can't control all the members."

"Then allow me to control them for you. One by one I'll drop each one body off at your doorstep until the rest get the message that this area is under the protection of a Sith. Understood?"

The Nautolan narrowed his eyes just a fraction, his face betraying none of his thoughts.

"Why are you bothering with these people?"

Gaediien stood and made his way to the door, he turned just before leaving.

"Don't let that keep you up at night. Remember, just one more small bruise on any kid and Shadow Blades will not only have new openings in their ranks, but your predecessor will be looking for a new base of operations. Good day."

"All done." Gaediien stepped through the doorway of the clinic, it was clear Nar'na had kept herself busy restocking the kolto pacs while he was gone. Piles of the healing liquid covered the beds and counters, and between all of it, a small blue Twi'lek popped her head up.

"You're still alive?"

"Is that a question or an observation?"

"Oh shut up, how did you do it?"

He cleared some packs of kolto off a nearby chair and sat down, arms crossed and mischievous grin on his face.

"I told you, Nar'na. I'd walk in and ask to speak to their leader."

"Pfft. Just help me with this stuff will you?"

He grabbed a few piles of kolto off the counter, and plopped them into waiting arms.

"I have a question for you, Nar'ra."

"What's that?"

Another pile of kolto made it's way to the girl.

"Actually I have two questions, where'd you get all this?"

"From the backroom, what's your other question?"

He kneeled down to be eye level with her and helped her stuff some stubborn bags into a bottom cabinet.

"Well, what if you were to leave here?"

She paused in her packing and met his eyes.

"Leave?"

"Yeah. I mean there's a whole galaxy out there. Do you really plan to stay on Nar Shaddaa forever?"

"I didn't plan a lot of things, Gaediien. I just, I can't. I can't leave."

"Why?"

"Where would I go? I've never left planet before and I wouldn't know where to go or what to do."

"I know. But you wouldn't be alone. That's what I'm asking. We can go anywhere, as far as our credits will take us. We can explore the galaxy." He picked up a kolto pack from the floor and examined it's contents. "I don't plan to stay on this moon forever, but you're the only friend I have in this galaxy."

"Why don't you just stay here?"

"I want to see more of the galaxy, Nar'na. I just can't stay in one place to long."

She took the pack from his hands.

"Who are you running from?" She whispered. He didn't meet her eyes.

"I'm asking if you want to come with. You don't have to if you don't want to, of course."

She stared down at the kolto pack, and then around at the clinic.

"Hungry?" She asked.

"Starved."

Nar Shaddaa's surface was always bustling. The Smuggler's Moon never stopped and never slept. The under city quieted down at night but the gang wars raged on. Nar'na led them to a small Cantina in the under city, _Jian deu Clernal._ It was located between Hutt Cartel shipping docks, and run by a Twi'lek named Dice.

Nar'na called out as they entered the building.

"Uncle?"

A blue Twi'lek staggered out of a back room. His lekku was wrapped around his neck loosely and his shirt gave evidence that he was most likely the cook.

"Alnar'na? What are you doing in these parts? Who's that?" He spoke with a heavy accent.

"Ki'uk. I'm doing well, Uncle Dice." She gestured to the former apprentice beside her, "This is my friend Gaadiien."

A greasy, blue hand was offered and Gaediien took it with some hesitation.

"Nice to meet you, a friend of my niece is welcome here anytime. What can I do for you, Alnar'na?"

"We'll just take a table in the back somewhere."

They sat in silence for a long while. Rycrit stew had been brought for them, along with munch-fungus bread.

"Have you had it before?" She finally broke the silence.

"This? Yeah, my master took me to many places, here and Nal Hutta to name two, to try the foods and see the culture."

"You were a slave?"

He froze, the words not making sense till he ran his sentence over in his own mind.

"Oh, no. 'Master', it's a term, uh, students use to refer to their teachers."

"Oh."

It fell silent again.

After a few moments of no conversation, Gaediien looked back up at the young girl. For the first time he realized how young she really was. She was watching something in the distance, he followed her gaze to some provocative Twi'lek dancers in the corner of the cantina. They were holographs, the dance looped over and over.

"Mama was worried I would end up like that." She nearly whispered. "Dancing in some cantina for spacers just to survive. It's not a good life."

"She was very wise."

"Yeah, papa left us when I was really young, so she took care of me all by herself. I guess he found some pretty young woman and fell in love her instead." The words were spoken with a soft of detachment, as if she was recalling someone else's life.

"So what happened?" He asked gently. She didn't meet his eyes.

"Well, we didn't have any money and we didn't have any place to go. You either become a slave up there or become a slave down here and at least down here everyone is poor and sad so the playing field is even." A sort of bitterness colored her words. "It was easy for me, I didn't really know or understand. But mama endured all of it, she protected us both and fed us and kept us clean and made sure I always had a roof over my head and shoes on my feet. She did all of that and never got anything in return. She just kept fighting."

"So how'd you end up with a clinic?"

"The clinic was mama's. There was no doctor in that part of the slums, the Red Cuffs made sure of that, so mama decided to open up a place to help people in need. No one ever helps anybody down here, it's all fend for yourself in the Red Light district. When we opened it, there were so many people coming through every day and all hours of the night. Some even stayed to help with other patients, I mean, it really changed a lot of people."

"But then the Signs and Ginto?"

"Yeah. The Red Cuffs found out what we were doing and wanted a cut. Then the Signs found out and wanted their share. When we couldn't pay up, Marno burned it to the ground, he was the leader of the Red Cuffs before Jak took him out. After that the Prophet burned it down, then the Cuffs again." She breathed a sigh. "I guess Ginto was tired of burning it."

"And your mother?"

She still hadn't met his eyes, she turned her attention to her hands. Tracing a vein in a wrist.

"One day, um, we couldn't pay up. Marno," She took a deep breath, "Marno killed her. Slit her throat while I was out buying supplies. He, uh, came back later to gloat."

She breathed a shaky breath and wiped her eyes with her arm real quick, then smiled and turned her attention back to Gaediien.

"So, I told you my story. What's yours?"

Gaediien turned his eyes towards the dancing holo, they might as well have been standing still, he wasn't really seeing them. His mind went into overdrive, _I'm an exiled Sith apprentice because I... I'm not a Jedi... I lied to you. Our whole friendship is based on lies. I'll sit here if you want to run out of here as far away as possible._

He took a deep breath and intended to meet her eyes, instead he met the table.

"I uh, well, uh... I not, I mean." He closed his eyes, a headache was forming between his brows and he suddenly felt sick. He felt a soft pressure above his hand. When he opened his eyes he saw a small blue hand laid on his. The light blue contrasted with his pale, marked skin.

"It's alright. People come into the clinic all the time with stories they'd rather not share."

He met her violet eyes. There was kindness and understanding there. He knew he didn't deserve either.

"You deserve to know something about me."

She returned her hand to her side and brought them up to rest her head on.

"Alright, only what you feel comfortable with."

"Well, for one thing, I wasn't really born on Coruscant."

"Oh."

"I was born on Alderaan."

"Alderaan." She mouthed the word over and over. He could see she was trying it out on her tongue.

"Alderaan. Isn't that were the fancy, rich people come from?"

Gaediien chuckled at that.

"Yes and no. My mom was from Alderaan, my father was from, well, he was in the military when he met her."

Her smiled widened.

"Are they like you?"

Gaediien shook his head, he didn't remember much of his parents but he assumed whatever they were like, he probably didn't act much like them. He'd spent too many years in the Academy, in the Empire and with Darth Kuhn.

"I doubt it." A pause then, "Nar'na, may I ask you a question?"

"'Course."

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen. How about you?" She popped a piece of bread into her mouth.

"Twenty-two."

There was a long pause where Gaediien could tell she was debating something. She moved her food around absentmindedly and crinkled her forehead.

"You said you don't see your family much?" She asked hesitantly.

"Right."

"So then, I mean, only if you want, you don't have to, it's fine. But, maybe, we could be family?" Her smile was lopsided and fading. Her lekku twitched.

"I wouldn't mind having a little sister."

"I'm not little!"

He tried hard to hide his smile behind a smirk.

"Compared to me. You come up to my what, my neck?"

She glared hard at him.

"Nevermind, I take it back."

"No, no, no. It doesn't work that way, sis."

"Honestly though," He held out his hand, "Family?"

She took it and smiled, sealing the promise.

"Family."


End file.
